Control mechanism for pressing machines



Feb. 7, 1933. 5 w JOHNSON 1,896,518

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR PRESSING MACHINES Filed Oct. 20 1930 3Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 5627a M I A /wad! ATTORN EYJ Feb. 7, 1933. I G.w. JOHNSON 1,396,518

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR PRESSING MACHINES Filed Oct. 20, 19:50 3Sheets-Sheet 2 @M M w w ATTORN E Y Feb. 7, 1933. a. w. JOHNSON CONTROLIECHANISM FOR PRESSING MACHINES 3 Sheets$heet 3 INVENTOR eaye 0 m Filed001:. 20 1930 A'rl onusw Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE GEORGE W. JOHNSON, 01' CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICANLAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIOCONTROL MECHANISM FOR PRESSING MACHINES Application filed October 20,1930. Serial No. 489,894.

My invention relates to improvements in laundry apparatus and moreparticularly, to pressing and ironing apparatus of the'continuous typetogether with operating mechanism and control mechanism therefor tobring about automatic operation of the apparatus.

The general object of the invention is the provision of an automaticoperating and control mechanism for a pressing and ironing apparatus ofthe continuous t pe wherein a plurality of work su portin bucks areconnected in a gang an move step by step to bring the bucks to operatorstations for loading, unloadlng and work arranging purposes and toressmg stations wherein they are subjecte to ressing operations bypressing heads moved downardly into engagement therewith. The workreceiving bucks are preferabl so arranged as to permit concentrating othe mechanism necessary to move both the bucks and the heads.

As shown, the apparatus of the present application includes a generallyoval-shaped trackway along which move, automatically and step by step, aplurality of work supporting bucks connected in a gang. Cooperating withthese bucks are a plurality of automatically operating pressing headspreferably arranged for engaging each buck in the gang as they come torest thereunder while the next adjacent or companion bucks are in aposition between adjacent heads whereby the exposed bucks may be used asloading, un-

loading or work arranging stations.

In accordance with my invention, the use of a single power means forautomatically and intermittently moving the. bucks step by step in theiroval-shaped path or circuit and for moving the pressing headsautomatically into and out of pressing engagement with a buck inregistry therewith together with suitable timing mechanism forregulating the upward and downward movement of the pressing heads andthe intermittent step by step movement of the bucks is contemplated.

Various objects and advantageous features of my invention will be seenin the following description and one embodiment thereof may be seen inthe accompanying drawings wherein similar characters of referencedesignate corresponding parts, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pressing and ironing apparatus embodyingoperating and control mechanism in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2is a longitudinal sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig.3 is a transverse sectional view of the apparatus on the line 3-3, Fig.1; Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the driving mecha-' ing adiflerent position of the switch parts;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but showing the switch parts in theposition in which they are in Fig. 5; and Fig. 10 is an electricaldiagram of the control mechanism. a

In the drawings, I have shown my control mechanism as applied toaressingapparatus embodyin a plurality 0 frame structures 1 arrange sideby side and in generally parallel arrangement, each of these framestructures being provided with an upwardly extending press headsupporting arm 2 and at each side thereof with a flat track supportingbed 3.- A trackway consisting of an outer track 4, an inner'track 5 anda middle channel shaped track 6 is mounted on the track supporting beds.The two middle tracks 6 are connected at their ends by U-shaped tracks 7with the result that an oval-shaped trackway is provided with twostraight sides along the sides of the apparatus and two curved ends atthe opposite ends thereof.

As shown in Fig. 3, a head lever 9 is pivotally mounted as at 10 on eachof the frame arms 2, the head lever 9 consisting of a rear arm 11 and aforward arm 12 which carries a suitable pressing head 13. Each of theframe arms 2 is curved toward one side of the frame and the severalframes 1 and frame arms 2 are arranged so that the frame arms 2 extendalternately in op osite directions. In other words, as shown in igs. 1and 2, the arms of three of the frames are curved in one direction andthe arms of the other two frames are curved in the opposite directionwith the pressing heads 13 arranged on the sides towards which the framearms are curved so that the apparatus will have three pressing heads onone side and two pressing heads on the other. Each of the pressing heads13 is normally maintained in raised position, or the dot-dash positionshown in Fig. 3, by means of a spring 14 connected to the rear arm 11 ofthe head lever 9 and the bed 3 of the frame.

A plurality of pedestals 15 supporting bucks 16 are arranged formovement along the traekway formed by the side tracks 4, 5 and 6 and theend track 7, there being eleven such pedestals and five pressing headsin the arrangement shown. Each pedestal 15 is mounted upon four rollersas shown in Figs. 3 and 4, an outer roller 17 which travels on the track4,an inner roller 18 which travels on the track 5 and two middle rollers19 which travel on the track 6. In addition, the middle rollers 19 movealong the tracks 7 as the pedestals and: bucks are traveling around theends thereof. An arm 20 extends inwardly from the base of each pedestaland has its inner end connected to a link 21 of a conve or chain 22.Such chain is driven by a sproc et 23 at one end of the apparatus andpasses around an idle sprocket 24 at the other end A thereof, thedriving sprocket being mounted on the upper end of a shaft 25 rotatablymounted in a vertical bearing 26 while the ldle sprocket 24 is providedwith a suitable bearing portion 27 arranged upon a base support 28carried by the frame 1 at that end of the apparatus. With suchconstruction, the pedestals and bucks travel with the chain and alongthe oval-shaped trackway.

It is well known that the several heads 13 must be moved downwardly intopressing engagement with the bucks 16 that are in registry therewith tocomplete a pressing operation and, in this instance, the means for somoving the heads downwardly consists of a shaft 29 that extendspractically full length of the apparatus as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 andis mounted in suitable bearings in the frame arms 2. Such shaft carriesa plurality of cams 30, or one cam for each head lever 9, whichcooperate with the rear arm 11 of the head lever that is provided withsuitable bands 31 for engagement with the cams. As shown, each cam isprovided with a pressure producing area 32 and a dwell or relief area33, the relief area being provided to permit the rearward arms 11 of thehead levers 9 to be lowered b the springs 14 and the front arms 12 of elever .to be correspondingly raised, and hence the pressing heads 13 tobe moved out of pressing engagement with the buck 16.

The shaft 29 is driven by a gear 34 that is rigidly mounted thereon anda pinion 35 loosely mounted upon the shaft 36 that extends outwardlyfrom a gear reduction unit 37, the pinion 35 forming a part of a clutchmember 38 mounted upon the shaft 36. Opposite the clutch member 38 isanother clutch member '39 that forms a part of the apparatus for movingthe pedestals and bucks along the tracks 4, 5, 6 and 7, this clutchmember taking the form of a sleeve loosely mounted on the shaft 36 andcarrying a bevel pinion 40 in mesh with a bevel gear 41 which is rigidlymounted on and drives the shaft 26 and the sprocket 23. A double endedclutch member 42 is splined on the shaft 36 and is adapted to beoperated by the forked end of a clutch operating lever 43 pivotallymounted as at 44 and having its free outer end.

connected to a solenoid rod 45 a part of which forms the core orarmature 46 of a solenoid 47. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, a suitablemotor or power unit 48 drives the shaft 36 through reduction gearing 37.

In the operation of this part of the apparatus, it will be seen thatwhen the motor 48 is set in operation, power is transmitted to andthrough the reduction gearing 37 to the shaft 36 and thence to the shaft29 by way of the double ended clutch mechanism 42, pinion 35 and gear 34when the solenoid 47 is dc-energized and the double ended clutch member42 is thrown into engagement with the clutch member 38 by the action ofa spring 49 that pushes the rod 45 outwardly and moves the operatinglever 43 about its pivot as shown in Fig. 4. In other Words, the clutchmember 42 has coupled the motor or power unit 48 with the shaft- 29whereby the shaft will be rotated and the cams 30 rotated to bring theheads 13 into pressing engagement with the bucks 16 in registrytherewith. However, when the solenoid 47 is energized in a mannerhereinafter described, the clutch member 42 will be shifted intoengagement with the sleeve 39 to cause rotation of the gear 23 andmovement of the conveyor chain 22 and the pedestals and bucks attachedthereto by way of the bevel pinion 40 bevel gear 41 and shaft 25.In'other words, the pressure producing mechanism will be uncoupled fromthe power unit and the bed moving mechanism will be coupled thereto.Thus a means is'provided for moving various beds into registry withvarious heads.

To control the operation of this mechanism and produce an intermittentstep by step movement of the pressing bed 16 into and out of registrywith successive pressing heads and synchronized intermittent operationof the pressing heads, suitable control mecha nism is 'provided that,generally speaking, is

of the electro-type and includes a double pole main line switch 50, adouble pole contactor 51, and a switch mechanism operable by movement ofboth the beds and heads, all of this mechanism being diagrammaticallyshown in Fig. 10.

The switch mechanism operable by movement of both the beds and headsincludes a suitable casing or box 52 as shown in Figs. 3 and 5-9inclusive, that is mounted in any suitable manner on the frame andsupports a main switch shaft 53' extending out through one side of thecasing or box and provided with a trip lever 53 that extends upwardlythrough the track supporting bed 3 and into the path of each innerroller 18 that forms a part of the pedestal and bed suport.

As the roller 18 moves along the track 5, it being assumed that theoperating mechanism is in such position as to move the beds along thetrack as hereinbefore described, it strikes and moves the lever 53 toone side as shown in Figs. 5 and 8 and brings about a rocking movementof the shaft 53' which is provided within the housing 52 with a bridgearm 54 that carries a current conducting,

bridge member 55 insulated from the arm 54 and adapted to makeconnection .with a pair of contact fingers 56 and 57 carried by a sleeve58 disposed over the shaft 53.

Such sleeve 58 extends outwardly through the side of the casing 52'andis provided with a sleeve arm 59 as shown in Fig. 6 that is normallyheld in the position there shown by an .1 adjustable stop 60 and aspring 61 that is secured to the arm 59, crosses the axis of the sleeve58, and is secured to the frame as at 62 in such position that, when thearm 59 is in engagement with the stop 60, the'spring will hold the armin engagement with the stop or will move the arm 59 and sleeve 58 in aclockwise direction as shown in Fig. 6 when the arm is moved to suchposition as to move the spring 61 across and to the other side of theaxis of the sleeve 58. Thus, both the current conducting bridge memberand the contact fingers 56 and 57 areniovable and so located that at theproper time they may be brought into cooperative relation in theestablishment of a. circuit for operating the solenoid 47 or moved outof cooperative relation to break the operating circuit for the solenoid.

An electrical circuit formed by the movement of the current conductingarm 55 and the contact fingers 56 and 57 and the operation of theapparatus resulting from such circuits will nowbe described withparticular reference to a diagrammatic showing in Fig. 10 of thedrawings. It will be noted that the lines L1 and L2 are connected to thepoles of the main line switch 50 and when this switch 50 is closed acircuit is established from the line L1 through the main line 63 to thedouble pole contactor 51, through the line 64,

and line 65 to the double pole switch 50 and L2. A circuit is alsoestablished from L1 through the line 63 to the motor lead 66, thence tothe motor 48, and fromthe motor through lead 67, double pole contactor51 and line 65 to the double pole switch 50 and L2 whereby the motor 48is operated and the shaft 29 rotated. This circuit is established whenthe parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4 wherein the clutch member42 is in engagement with the member 38 to drive .the gears 35 and 34 androtate the shaft 29 which carries the cams 30, the solenoid 47 beingdeenergized at this time and the contacting fingers 56 and 57 being outof engagement with the current conducting arm 55.

The pressing operation havin been completed due to engagement of 't epressure producing area 32 of the cam 30 with the band 31 on therearward portion 11 ofjthe arm 9 and the band having entered the dwellor relief area 33 of the cam 30, the pressing heads 13 rise under theaction of the springs 14 and this motion is utilized for varyng thecircuit to energize the solenoid 47 and move the clutch member 42 intobed moving posit1on or into engagement with the sleeve 39 by providingone of thellever arms 9 with an operating rod 68 as shown in Figs. 3, 8and 9 that extends downwardly and is connected to the rear arm of alever 69 pivotally mounted on the track supporting bed 3 and having itsforward arm connected to a trip rod 70 mounted in suitable bracketscarried by the switch housin 52. Such rod 70 is arranged close to the seeve arm 59 and is equipped with a recessed portion 71 that contains apawl 72 having a portion ada ted to engage the bottom of the recess 71an limit the outward movement of the u per end of the pawl as shown inFi 6. The pawl is normally moved outward y to its greatest extent by aspring 74 so that when the rod 70 is lowered by the downward movement ofthe head 13 into pressing engagement with the bed 16 and then raisedagain by upward movement of the head 13 by reason of the band 31entering the dwell or relief area 33 of the cam 30 a8 hereinbeforedescribed, the upper end of the pawl will meet and engage a cooperatingtooth or shoulder 75 on the sleeve arm 59. Then, continued upwardmovement of the rod 70 will cause rotation of the sleeve arm 59 gers inengagement with the current conducting arm.

This contact of the fingers and arm completes a circuit from L1 throughthe line 63,

line 76, through contact finger 56, across bridge contact 55, throughcontact finger 57, and through line 77, to and through the solenoid coil47 that forms a part of the solenoid 47, and line 65 to L2. Thus, thesolenoid 47 is energized which will cause the operating rod 45 to bedrawn into the solenoid against the resistance of the spring 49 tothereby move the clutch operating lever 43 to disengage the clutehmember 42 from the member 38 and throw it into engagement with themember 39 to move the conveyor chain, pedestals and beds in the mannerhereinbefore described.

Prior to the beginning of movement of the pedestals and beds, the roller18 on the pedestal is in contact with and maintaining the lever arm 53and bridging arm 55 in the position shown in Fig. 8 against the tensionof a spring 78 which tends to move the lever arm 53 and bridge arm 55 tothe position shown in Fig. 5. Then, upon beginning of movement of thepedestal and beds, the roller 18 is disengaged from the lever arm 53which is returned to its normal position as shown in Fig. 5 by thespring 78, this return serving to move the contact fingers 56 and 57 tothe vertical position in Figs. 5 and 8 and the spring 61 across the axisof .the sleeve arm 59 to hold the sleeve arm against the stop 60 asshown in Figs. 5 and 6. However, the contact between the contacts 56 and57 and the bridge member 55 is maintained as is clearly shown in Fig. 5.Such movement of the pedestals and beds will then continue and thesolenoid 47 will be maintained energized until the roller on the nextsucceeding pedestal strikes the lever arm 53 and moves it to theposition shown in Fig. 8 wherein the contact between the contact fingers56 and 57 and the bridge arm 55 will be broken to desenerg'ize thesolenoid whereby the clutch hereinbefore described will be 4 moved intoengagement with the parts that cause the pressing operation, the contactfingers 56 and 57 being held upright by reason of the fact that thespring 61 is not moved across the horizontal axis of the sleeve arm 59.Thus, it will be seen that a control means is provided which will causethe bed moving operation and pressing operation automatically and stepby step without intervention of the operator. 7

With the construction just described, an operator or operators at theunloading and loading station may start a garment through the machine byperforming the first lay atthis point. After the layhas beenaccomplished which, by theway, must be accomplished .in the timeallotted by the machine, the heads are raised and the beds are moved asa gang through one step to a position wherein the exposed beds are movedunder succeeding heads. The initial operatorlays another garment withthe same lay upon the ments are passed to the operator at the next gapor station between the heads where this operator performs its secondlay. Third,

fourth and as many other lays as desired are simultaneously made atsucceeding gaps or stations and by providing operators around themachine at various gaps between adjacent heads, the garment may becompletely finished through a plurality of lays by operators performingonly a single lay operation each, the machine operating automaticallyand completely finishing the garment.

What I claim is: e

1. A pressing machine comprising spaced pressing beds arranged in a gangand. adapted to travel about a loop with straight sides, spaced pressingheads arranged about said loop and in the path of travel of said beds,

said pressing heads being spaced apart with the distance between thecenters-of the heads substantially twice the distance between thecenters of companion beds, whereby only one of a pair of beds may be inregistry with a head while the companion bed is in exposed position,means for progressively moving said beds about said path to move each ofsaid beds successively into and out of exposed position and into and outof registry with a head, and means for producing pressing engagementbetween the registered heads and 2. A pressing machine of the classdescribed in claim 1 wherein the pressing heads on one side of the loopare in staggered position relative to the pressing heads on the otherside of said loop.

3. A pressing machine of the class described in claim 1 wherein agreater number of pressing heads are arranged on one side of the loopthan the other with the heads in relative staggered relation to providea loadmg station at the end of the loop.

4. A pressing machine of the class described in claim 1 wherein a singlemotor means is provided for moving the beds as a gang and for producingpressing engagement of the heads and beds, together with actuating meansfor moving said beds about the loop, means for-actuating said heads intoand out of pressing engagement with the beds in registry therewith, andcontrol means for selective] coupling the motor means to one or the oter of said actuating means.

5. A pressing machine of the class described in claim 1 wherein a singlemotor means is provided for moving the beds as a gang and for producingpressing engagement of the heads and beds, together with actuating meansfor moving said b'eds about said loop, actuating means for causingpressing engagement between said heads and beds in registry, and controlmeans for selectively coupling the motor means to one or the other meansof said actuating means, said control means including an electricalcontrol mechanism rendered effective by movement of said beds into andout of registry with said heads and l movement of said heads and bedsinto and out of pressing engagement.

6. A ressing machine of the class described m claim 1 wherein a 1e motormeans firovildgld for moving the ds as a 10 gang an or p ucing pressineng ement of the heads and beds, togeth r actugting means formovingfsaid beds about said 00p, actuating means or causing pressingengagement between said heads and beds in 15 registry, control means forselectively couphng the motor means to one or the other of saidactuating means, said control means including an electrical controlmechanism rendered effective by movement of said beds into 2 and out ofregist with said heads and movement of said hea and beds into and out ofpressing engagement, a clutch associated with each of said actuatingmeans, and a solenoid operating means for said clutch operativelyinterconnected with said electrical control means.

In testimony whereof I hereby afiix my signature.

GEORGE W. JOHNSON. so

